DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A building collapsed in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people, including three children, the Syrian state television reported.
The TV said the illegally built, five-story building in Aleppo’s southern neighborhood of Fardous collapsed in the evening. It said seven women, three children and an elderly man were killed.
The report also said two people were injured and seven nearby buildings were evacuated for fear they might collapse as well. Search operations were still ongoing amid the rubble in case more people might be buried under the debris.
State news agency, SANA, quoted the head of the Aleppo city council, Muid Madlaji, as saying that the building was illegally built and had weak foundations. He added that the area suffered wide damage during the war.
Fardous was a rebel-held neighborhood until December 2016, when government forces with the help of Russia and Iran captured eastern parts of the city, which had been held by insurgents for four years.
Many buildings in Aleppo were completely destroyed or damaged during Syria’s 11-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
Aleppo is Syria’s largest city and was once its commercial center.
